The model of consistency in her young career, Key of Life (Mo Town) turned in another gutsy performance Sunday with a coast-to-coast win in the GII Beaumont S., the final race in the 2023 Road to the Kentucky Oaks.
Never off the board in her seven prior starts, including a three-race win streak last Fall at both Churchill Downs and Keeneland, the $350,000 OBS April grad entered off a 3 1/4-length score in Oaklawn's Purple Martin S. where she posted a career-best 91 Beyer Speed Figure.
Bet like a sure thing at 2-5, Key of Life cruised to the early lead right from the jump despite her outside gate and cleared down just off the rail with Opus Forty Two (Mendelssohn) and Stonewall Star (Flatter) in hot pursuit a length back. Alone on the front end through swift opening fractions of :22.24 and :44.87, Key of Life hit the quarter pole looking as if the race was all but won. But further back in the field, Interpolate was coming with an eye-catching rally from fourth, circling up past both pursuers to move into second despite a wide run around the turn. With a furlong left to race and Key of Life still to catch, Interpolate kept grinding away, pulling within a neck but coming up just short as Key of Life found the wire first. With the win, Key of Life earned 10 points towards the GI Kentucky Oaks in less than three weeks time.
“She's very fast away from (the gate) and she's obviously got a lot of speed,” said winning trainer Brad Cox. “She likes Keeneland a lot. I like Keeneland and she likes Keeneland; she's three-for-three here. I'd like to congratulate (owners) Staton Flurry and Greg Hoffman (of Flurry Racing Stables and Hoffman Family Racing, respectively). This was a last-minute decision, so I want to commend those guys. I called them Tuesday and told them I was looking at this race. She was at Oaklawn, so it was a last-minute decision to bring her here and it worked out well. She had no graded black type, so that obviously was appealing. This (win) added a lot to her value and we're very proud of what she was able to accomplish today.”
Pedigree Notes:
The fourth winner from as many to make the races out of Longride to Wisdom, Key of Life traces back to MGSW and current Hill 'n' Dale stallion Kantharos (Lion Heart). She becomes the third graded-stakes winner for Mo Town whose first crop are now 3-year-olds.
Sunday, Keeneland
BEAUMONT S. PRESENTED BY KEENELAND SELECT-GII, $390,250, Keeneland, 4-16, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:27.32, ft.
1–KEY OF LIFE, 118, f, 3, by Mo Town
1st Dam: Longride to Wisdom, by Harlan's Holiday
2nd Dam: Clever Idea, by Matchlite
3rd Dam: Queen of Savoy, by Conquistador Cielo
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($42,000 Ylg '21 OBSOCT; $350,000
2yo '22 OBSAPR). O-Flurry Racing Stables LLC & Hoffman
Family Racing, LLC; B-Moreau Bloodstock International, Inc.
(KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Flavien Prat. $241,800. Lifetime Record:
8-5-0-3, $633,275. Werk Nick Rating: A++.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Interpolate, 118, f, 3, Into Mischief–Keesha, by Tapit.
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($210,000 Ylg '21 KEEJAN; $300,000
Ylg '21 FTSAUG). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.; B-Capital Bloodstock
(KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $78,000.
3–Stonewall Star, 118, f, 3, Flatter–Jonata, by Proud Citizen.
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O-Barry K. Schwartz; B-Stonewall
Farm (NY); T-Horacio De Paz. $29,250.
Margins: NK, 6 1/4, 3 3/4. Odds: 0.47, 4.48, 5.87.
Also Ran: She's On the Rocks, Opus Forty Two, Shoplifter, Fun and Feisty. Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
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